“… “There is a 2nd Amendment,” Biden said. “It’s real. It exists and it must be upheld. And there is a need to significantly decrease the exposure to violence as consequence of the use of a gun in American society.” …”

“… “The enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table,” [U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon] wrote in a 46-page opinion, quoting a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 in another District case that established a constitutional right to keep firearms in one’s home. Leon said that the right applies both inside and outside the home. “The District’s understandable, but overzealous, desire to restrict the right to carry in public a firearm for self-defense to the smallest possible number of law-abiding, responsible citizens is exactly the type of policy choice the Justices had in mind,” he wrote …”

Neither this nor the Peruta case in the 9th Circuit directly affect New York, but they might have some reference value in future court cases.

His claim that he showed “courage” in passing the SAFE Act apparently did not move the judge as Skelos received a 5 year prison sentence plus $500,000 fine. Junior got a 6.5 year sentence for his part in the scheme.

Dean #Skelos lawyer said that he had "political acts of courage" as a legislator including the SAFE gun legislation

One note, with respect to all the junk bills that come up, the Republicans should learn something from this. The Democrats do this to appeal to their base, raise money and push the issue along. They do the same just about every year in the Senate trying to move a couple of antigun bills with a Motion for Committee Hearing/Motion for Discharge. There is no reason the Republicans could not do the same in the Assembly. The fact that they don’t is why they are down to so few members.

Historically while the party has a strong platform on limited government and individual rights, the LP has long suffered from a leadership less interested in electing people to public office and more in ideological purity. This can be seen in their lack of candidate quality control. Gary Johnson is one of their more reasonable candidates having served two terms as New Mexico Governor. Whether he can generate a lot of new support now remains to be seen.

With both Ted Cruz and John Kasich ending their campaigns The Donald has pretty much wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination. I suspect this will go very badly for them even if he wins.

Of course, the GOP has brought this on themselves both at the New York state and national level. Their cowardice, incompetence and complacency are to blame. I would like to think that maybe Trump’s behavior is going to change, but at the moment that is not happening.

In any event, here is some commentary from people who think Trump can win in November: